Monday, December 4
Lynchburg, Va.
7:00 PM ET
Liberty University
3-6,0-0CUSA
70
vs
73
Towson
5-1,0-0CAA
1
2
3
4
OT 1
F
Towson
16
19
13
14
11
73
Liberty
22
2
17
21
8
70
Jordan Hodges
Liberty Falls to Towson in OT, 73-70
12/4/2023 10:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – For the second time in four days, Liberty battled back from a double-digit deficit to take the lead, Monday evening. This time, however, the Lady Flames were unable to pull out the victory as Towson emerged from Liberty Arena with a 73-70 overtime triumph.
Liberty falls to 3-6 after seeing its facility-record 16-game home winning streak snapped and losing for the first time in its last nine overtime contests. The Lady Flames rallied from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to force the extra session, aided by a career game from Bella Smuda (career-high 22 points, career-high 14 rebounds, career-high six blocked shots).
CAA preseason favorite Towson moves to 5-1 with its fourth consecutive triumph. Patricia Anumgba (21 points) paced four Tigers in double digits, and the visitors scored 27 points off Liberty's 24 turnovers.
Box Score Highlights
Other Liberty Individuals: Emma Hess – 14 points, 4 rebounds; Asia Boone – 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3-7 3FG; Jordan Hodges – 11 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists.
Other Towson Individuals: Quinzia Fulmore – 12 points, 10 rebounds; India Johnston – 12 points; Alexia Nelson – 10 points, 5 rebounds, 7-8 FT; Kylie Kornegay-Lucas – 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals.
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot better than Towson from both the field (46 percent to 36.8 percent) and three-point range (29.4 percent to 21.1 percent). However, the Tigers enjoyed a significant advantage at the foul line, shooting 19-of-22 for 86.4 percent to Liberty's 7-of-10 for 70 percent. Towson scored 26 bench points to the Lady Flames' seven. After being outrebounded in each of the last four games, Liberty enjoyed the upper hand in boards (40-38), points in the paint (38-32) and second-chance points (17-12).
Turning Point
Asia Boone made two free throws with 1:30 remaining in OT to produce the game's eighth and final tie score, 66-66.
Towson then scored seven of the next nine points to seize control. Patricia Anumgba's final hoop of the night, a jumper from outside the paint at the 1:15 mark, put the Tigers in front 68-66 and they would not relinquish the advantage.
Anumgba also drew one of two charges during the final minute to help seal her team's triumph.
Game Summary
First Quarter
The Lady Flames will travel to No. 3 NC State (9-0) for their third Top 25 matchup of the season. The game is slated for Sunday at 2 p.m. inside Reynolds Coliseum, and the contest will air on ACC Network Extra.
Liberty falls to 3-6 after seeing its facility-record 16-game home winning streak snapped and losing for the first time in its last nine overtime contests. The Lady Flames rallied from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to force the extra session, aided by a career game from Bella Smuda (career-high 22 points, career-high 14 rebounds, career-high six blocked shots).
CAA preseason favorite Towson moves to 5-1 with its fourth consecutive triumph. Patricia Anumgba (21 points) paced four Tigers in double digits, and the visitors scored 27 points off Liberty's 24 turnovers.
Box Score Highlights
Other Liberty Individuals: Emma Hess – 14 points, 4 rebounds; Asia Boone – 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3-7 3FG; Jordan Hodges – 11 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists.
Other Towson Individuals: Quinzia Fulmore – 12 points, 10 rebounds; India Johnston – 12 points; Alexia Nelson – 10 points, 5 rebounds, 7-8 FT; Kylie Kornegay-Lucas – 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals.
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot better than Towson from both the field (46 percent to 36.8 percent) and three-point range (29.4 percent to 21.1 percent). However, the Tigers enjoyed a significant advantage at the foul line, shooting 19-of-22 for 86.4 percent to Liberty's 7-of-10 for 70 percent. Towson scored 26 bench points to the Lady Flames' seven. After being outrebounded in each of the last four games, Liberty enjoyed the upper hand in boards (40-38), points in the paint (38-32) and second-chance points (17-12).
Turning Point
Asia Boone made two free throws with 1:30 remaining in OT to produce the game's eighth and final tie score, 66-66.
Towson then scored seven of the next nine points to seize control. Patricia Anumgba's final hoop of the night, a jumper from outside the paint at the 1:15 mark, put the Tigers in front 68-66 and they would not relinquish the advantage.
Anumgba also drew one of two charges during the final minute to help seal her team's triumph.
Game Summary
First Quarter
- Liberty emerged with a 22-16 advantage after a first quarter which included four ties and five lead changes.
- Bella Smuda tallied 10 points for the Lady Flames, while Patricia Anumgba countered with nine for the Tigers.
- Towson scored the second quarter's first 19 points, including eight by India Johnston.
- Meanwhile, Liberty missed its first 10 field goal attempts and committed six turnovers. Elisabeth Aegisdottir's layup 19 seconds before halftime avoided a shutout for the Lady Flames and sent the home team to the locker room with an 11-point (35-24) deficit.
- Liberty's two points matched their fewest in a quarter in program history (also Nov. 11, 2016 vs. Duke in the fourth period).
- Named CUSA Freshman of the Week earlier in the day, Asia Boone hit two third-quarter triples to help Liberty's offense reawaken after falling behind 40-27 early in the period. Fellow rookie Brooke Moore pulled the Lady Flames within five (46-41) on a three-point play at the 44-second mark.
- Towson took a seven-point advantage (48-41) into the fourth period.
- Liberty shot 64.3 percent (9-of-14) during a 21-point fourth quarter. Emma Hess's three-point play with 22.7 seconds to play capped off a 7-0 run with the Lady Flames on top, 61-58.
- But Towson connected on four-of-five foul shots over the final 16 seconds to force the extra session.
- Quinzia Fulmore (6 points, 3 rebounds) was big for Towson during overtime, as her team made five-of-six free throw attempts.
- The Tigers also tallied five points off Liberty's four turnovers.
- Smuda posted her third double-double of the season and the fifth of her career. Her six blocked shots were the most by a Lady Flame since Ashley Rininger rejected six South Carolina shot attempts on Dec. 21, 2014. Smuda also became the 32nd Lady Flame to reach the 500-rebound milestone for her career.
- The first of Hess's 14 points on the night was No. 500 of her career.
- Boone scored in double figures for the second game in a row and the third time this year. She (40 minutes) and fellow freshman Elisabeth Aegisdottir (41 minutes) both played 40+ minutes.
- Hodges has now reached double figures in the scoring column for the third time in 2023-24 after only doing so four times during her first two seasons.
- Towson improves to 6-4 all-time in a head-to-head series that had not taken place since March 9, 1995 prior to Monday. Three of the former Big South Conference foes' 10 matchups have gone to overtime.
- The Lady Flames, who lost at Liberty Arena for the first time since the 2022-23 season opener vs. Richmond (Nov. 7, 2022), are now 44-4 all-time at the facility.
- Before Monday, Liberty had not lost an overtime game since suffering a 76-71 setback to North Alabama at the Vines Center on Jan. 13, 2020.
- Liberty is now 22-3 in its last 25 December games, dating back to the 2018-19 season.
The Lady Flames will travel to No. 3 NC State (9-0) for their third Top 25 matchup of the season. The game is slated for Sunday at 2 p.m. inside Reynolds Coliseum, and the contest will air on ACC Network Extra.
Team Stats
Towson
Lib
FG%
.368
.460
3FG%
.211
.294
FT%
.864
.700
RB
38
40
TO
15
24
STL
13
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
10
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's BasketballC
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